On Macroscopic Quantum Phenomena in Biomolecules and Cells: From Levinthal to Hopfield

In the context of the macroscopic quantum phenomena of the second kind, we hereby seek for a solution-in-principle of the long standing problem of the polymer folding, which was considered by Levinthal as (semi)classically intractable. To illuminate it, we applied quantum-chemical and quantum decohe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Raković, Dejan, Dugić, Miroljub, Jeknić-Dugić, Jasmina, Plavšić, Milenko, Jaćimovski, Stevo, Šetrajčić, Jovan
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2014
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4084588/
Description
Summary:In the context of the macroscopic quantum phenomena of the second kind, we hereby seek for a solution-in-principle of the long standing problem of the polymer folding, which was considered by Levinthal as (semi)classically intractable. To illuminate it, we applied quantum-chemical and quantum decoherence approaches to conformational transitions. Our analyses imply the existence of novel macroscopic quantum biomolecular phenomena, with biomolecular chain folding in an open environment considered as a subtle interplay between energy and conformation eigenstates of this biomolecule, governed by quantum-chemical and quantum decoherence laws. On the other hand, within an open biological cell, a system of all identical (noninteracting and dynamically noncoupled) biomolecular proteins might be considered as corresponding spatial quantum ensemble of these identical biomolecular processors, providing spatially distributed quantum solution to a single corresponding biomolecular chain folding, whose density of conformational states might be represented as Hopfield-like quantum-holographic associative neural network too (providing an equivalent global quantum-informational alternative to standard molecular-biology local biochemical approach in biomolecules and cells and higher hierarchical levels of organism, as well).